Explaining the concept behind the award, organiser To Hell with Publishing said it aims to find the best unpublished debut novel with UK agents and help budding authors take the first steps in their literary careers.

'This award is for those authors who have cleared the first hurdle and found themselves agents but are yet to be published and for those agents who have on their desk a manuscript which epitomises why they went into the business,' the company added.

The winner of the competition will be announced on April 18th before the start of the London Book Fair, with the triumphant author to receive a GBP 5,000 prize and a published copy of their work.

Founded in 2006, To Hell with Publishing was inspired by the independent presses of literary history, such as Black Sparrow, Olympia Press and Lawrence Ferlinghetti's City Lights bookshop.